Stories

A Story of Persecution- North Korea

With refugees like Moon it’s always difficult to get their full testimony. They feel ashamed about their past, or it just hurts too much to think about it, let alone explain it to others. That’s why people like Moon often only tell bits of pieces, giving us a glimpse into their world. There are not many people on this world who know what it feels like to be sold just for a bowl of noodles. It happened to Moon. She doesn’t tell us who sold her, but one day she found herself in China, sold to a man who treated her as a sex slave.

“I wanted to kill myself”, said Moon. “But I decided to flee from him. I got myself a small house, but there were men around that knew who I was: a North Korean refugee. I had to listen to them or they would give me away. Soon, I became a woman selling her body for just a small amount of money. Then I met a Chinese man who was nice to me and we got married.”

What seemed like a new start and a better life soon became another nightmare. “I got pregnant. Only three days before my due date my two sisters-in-law found out that I was a North Korean. That meant the baby could not have a legal status or receive formal education. They told me they were going to pick me up the next day and wanted me to have an abortion. I ran from home and walked all day, hoping I would go into labor. My sisters-in-law found me and dragged me to the hospital.”

All the time she was aware of the life in her belly. “My baby was moving so much, as if he knew his death was coming up. He was fighting for his life. But I couldn’t save him. I couldn’t call out for help, because I was a defector. I gave birth to a dead baby the next day.